Locking coupon envelope



Feb. 14, 1933. 'Q M, KENNEDY 1,897,847

LOCKING couPoN ENvELoPE Filed Deo. 23, 1930 2 sheets-sheet 1 Deweyflmnedy, f )v 'r l It aww/nega'.

Feb. 14, 1933. D M, KENNEDY I 1,897,847

LOCKING COUPON ENVELOPE Filed DeC. 23, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 atto/mamy.

Patented Feb. 14, 1933 FNV? @Fi DEWEY TE. KENNEDY, OF ROCHESTER, NEW'YORK, ASSlG-NP 'EO EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY, 0F ROCHESTER, NEW' YORK, ACORPORATION' 0F NEW YORK LOCKING CO'UEON ENVELOEE Application filedleceniher 33, 1930. Serial No. 504,286.

This invention relates to envelopes and particularly to envelopes of atype in which a iiap is provided with locking ears which may be engagedin suitable apertures in a wall of the envelope to form a closure.

@ne object of my invention is to pro-vide a locking envelope with a iiapwhich may be locked and unlocked repeatedly.

Another object of my invention is to provide an envelope with a flapadapted to be locked against the body portion of the envelope only aftera portion of the envelope has been removed.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a. coupon enveloil e,the coupon normally forming a part of an envelope wall which mustnecessarily be removed efor the envelope can be locked.

Still another object of my invention is to provide an envelope with amemory cue which will make it necessary for the user to remove a couponbefore the envelope is locked closed.

@ther objects will appear from t ie following speciiications, the novelfeatures bcing particularly pointed out in the claims at the endthereto.

Coming now to the drawings wherein like reference characters denote likeparts indicated:

Figure l is a plan view of an envelope blank from which an envelopeconstructed in accordance with and embodying a preferred form of myinvention may be made:

Figure 2 is a fragmentary plan view of an envelope folded up from theblank shown in Figure l.

Figure 3 is a plan view similar to Figure 2 but with the coupondetached, thus placing the envelope in a locking condition.

Figure et is a fragmentary plan view of the envelope with the lookingears on the flap engaged in complementary openings in the envelope body,thus locking the closure in place.

Figure 5 is a plan view of an envelope constructed in accordance withanother embodiment of my invention, and

Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 5 but with parts in a diierentposition.

For a great many purposes and particularly for photographic nishers itis useful to provide an envelope in which the work to be done may beplaced, this envelope being provided with a closure which can berepeatedly opened and closed without damaging the envelope.

is the work `comes in it is convenient to issue a number for the work,place on the cnstoniers name and address, the work required and thelike, and to hand the customer a receipt for the work.

ln order to form a. memory cue to insure that work order, instructionsor other necessary data is recorded, I have provided a coupon envelopewith a detachable coupon which is so located on the envelope that itmust be detached before the envelope closure can be locked to hold thecontents in the envelope.

A preferred embodiment of my invention is shown in the accompanyingdrawings wherein as indicated in Figure l, a blank 1 is shown from whichan envelope may be made.

This blank may consist of a front wall 2, a back wall 3, and an innerpart wall 4, between which thev fine dot and dash lines 5 indicatefolding lines. There is a iiap 6 which may be attached to the front wall2 and a. bottom flap 7 which may also be attached to the front Wall 2.Folding lines 5 indicate the extent of these aps.

rlhe inner wall Al is provided with a flap S extending down one side ofthe front wall',

2. The rear wall 3 may be provided with a pair of spaced slots 9 andthese slots may be connected with the weakened lines shown in brokenlines at l0, thus a rectangular coupon may be provided which can bereadily torn from the material forming the back wall 3 of the envelope.

rlhis coupon may be provided with blanks to be iilled in by the user, aseries of lines ll in Figure 2 indicating any required data.

f it should be useful to provide a duplicate copy of the data on thecoupon broadly designated as l2, the flap 6 may be provided on tieoutside as shown in Figure l with data 13 corresponding with the data 11on the coupon, thus it is only necessary to place carbon paper betweenthe flap 6 or on the ap 6 facing the coupon 12 in order to enable theuser to provide the written data required on both the flap and thecoupon 12.

Before the envelope can be locked in a closed position it is necessaryto remove flap 12 by tearing it along the weakened lines 10.

With the blank shown in Figure 1 the envelope may be constructed bybending wall 4 and flap S along line Adhesive may then be applied to thearea indicated by broken cross-hatched lines in Figure 3 and marked A.Over this folded portion of the envelope the rear wall 3 is then foldedalong the line and it will be held by the adhesive just described. Thelower flap 7 is then coated with adhesive A2 as also indicated in Figure8 and is folded over the wall 23 thus completing the envelope.

It should be noted from Figure 3 that an area B defined by the dot anddash lines b is free from adhesive and consequently forms a lockingpocket 14, the outward walls of which are formed by the slots 9 and theedges 15 from which the coupon 12 has been torn.

The flap 6 may be somewhat irregular in shape, but is preferablyprovided with a pair of locking ears 16 and a locking ear 17. rlhelocking ears 1G are adapted to enter the locking pocket 111 and engagethe complementary openings 9 which form the side walls thereof. Thelocking ear 17 is adapted to engage the lower wall 15 of the opening 14so that the three locking ears form a similar connection with thecomplementary openings of the envelope back having comparatively largeareas in engagement therewith so that there is little liability oftearing or breaking the locking ears even though they are repeatedlyused.

The operation of my envelope may be as follows:

lVith the envelope folded up ready kfor use as shown in Figure 2, a userupon receiving an order-for instance an order for developing andprinting film-may write the order on the envelope tab 6 with a piece ofcarbon between this tab and the coupon 12 thus there wil."L be provideda duplicate record. lf desirable, a smaller area of carbon paper may beplaced on or facing tab 6 at 160. The roll of film or film pack may beplaced in the envelope and the flap closed.

lf the operator has failed to remove the coupon 12, the envelope can notbe completely locked since the tab 17 can not be entered in the lockingpocket. This reminds a user that the coupon must be removed by tearingthe coupon along the lines 10-10 after which the flap can be locked in aclosed position.

The envelope may be repeatedly locked and unlocked in removing thefilms, inserting the prints, showing the prints to customers, etc.,without damaging the locking ears.

It is obvious that modifications can be made without departing from myinvention. For instance, one modification is shown in Figure 5 whereinthe removable tab 22 forms a part of the envelope flap 26 instead of apart of the rear wall 23. ln this embodiment of my invention the lockingopening for the flap consists of a rectangular cut out 24: in the rearwall and it should be noted that the sides 25 of this cut out are spaceda less distance apart than are the sides 28 of the coupon 22. There is aweakened line 27 of curved shape connecting the coupon to the iap 26. Aswill appear obvious, this coupon 26 must be torn off before the envelopecan be locked closed. W'ith this form of my invention the duplicate copyof the order may be provided on the rear wall 23 of the envelope justbeneath the square cut out 2-1, as best shown in Figure 6.

`Except as above described, the envelope may be of the same constructionas that of the envelope described in 'the first embodiment of myinvention.

ln both of the above describing embodiments of my invention it will beseen that there is a coupon necessarily removable before the envelopecan be locked in a closed position. This not only provides a convenientmethod of retaining a coupon with the envelope but in addition it formsa memory cue to a user which will prevent the user from locking the workwithout filling out the coupon.

In both embodiments of my invention the envelope is formed from a singlepaper blank folded up and pasted. The coupon is likewise formed from apiece of the same blank.

As it is obvious that various changes in form and shape may be madewithout departing from my invention, I contemplate as within the scopeof my invention all such forms as may come within the applied claims.

Having thus described my invention, what l claim as new and desire tosecure b Letters Patent is,-

1. In an envelope, the combination with envelope walls having anopening, of a flap adapted to close the opening in the walls, lockingears on the flap, a locking pocket in the envelope including a removabletab defined bv a pair of spaced slots and weakencd lines connecting saidslots, said tab being adapted to be removed by tearing along theweakened lines, whereby the locking ears of the flap may engage theopening thus formed and lock the envelone in a closed position.

2. In an envelope, the combination With envelope Walls made from asingle sheet of material and folded into front and rear Walls, tabs onone of these Walls adapted to join the front and rear Walls, at least aportion of the rear Wall being formed of two thicknesses of material, aliap adapted to close an opening at one end of said envelope, lockingears on the nap, a locking pocket in the envelope rear Wall including aremovable tab dened by a pair of spaced slots and weakened linesconnecting said slots, said removable tab lying over an area of the rearWall having a double thickness7 whereby when said tab is removed therear Wall of the envelope may remain unbroken.

3. ln an envelope, the combination with envelope Walls having anopening, of a flap adapted to close the opening in the Walls, lockingears on the flap, a locking pocket in the envelope including twoconnected walls, one Wall including a removable tab dened by a pair ofslots and weakened lines connecting said slots, the double-Walledportions of said envelone being connected by an adhesive areasurrounding said removable tab, whereby a locking pocket for the lockingears on the flap is provided by removing said removable tab.

Signed at Rochester, N. Y. this 17th day of December, 1930.

DEWEY M. KENNEDY.

